Good sleep doesn’t come easily for everyone, and simply closing your eyes and hoping for the best isn’t the answer—it’s about aligning with your circadian rhythms to set yourself up for success. For Sleep Awareness Month, our CEO, Olivia Walch, shares three simple but powerful ways to improve your sleep using circadian science.
1. Light Exposure
“It’s not just morning—light matters for your body’s clock across the day! Getting more light exposure during the daytime makes your brain more confident about when day is. This means it’s more confident about when night is, too, which means it knows what times it should try to send you to sleep.”
2. Time Your Sleep Correctly
“Sleep’s a rhythm, like breathing, walking, and your heartbeat. We should think of rhythmicity as fundamental to our definition of sleep health the same way we think of it as fundamental to heart health. Avoid sleep arrhythmia—go to bed at the same time every night! And don’t stress if you can’t fall asleep at the same time every night: turning out the lights at the same time every day is half the battle.”
3. Manage Your Caffeine Intake
“Listen, you’re probably not chugging five Monster Energies, hopping into bed in your Sleepytime Tea Bear pajamas, and wondering why slumber eludes you. But caffeine, which has only halfway cleared out of your body after 5 hours, sticks around in your system longer than you might expect. If you find yourself having a hard time falling asleep at night, it might be a sign to move your last caffeine drink a bit earlier (we’ve got an app for that).”
The Bottom Line
You don’t have to surrender to a lifetime of bad sleep; you can actively improve it by making small, strategic changes to your daily routine.
Looking for more? Download Arcashift for personalized sleep recommendations based on your circadian rhythms.
